In the late afternoon of May 29, Gu Chao, a goalkeeper for Chinese Super League (CSL) newcomer Zhejiang, and a former striker for the national team, embarked on a flight to Hangzhou. Such a trip, only two days before he arrived in Haikou with the team. It is reported that on May 27, in the warm-up match between Zhejiang and the U19 national youth team, Gu Chao unfortunately fractured his left ring finger in a save, forcing him to undergo surgery in Hangzhou, a foreign country.
On May 26, the Zhejiang team moved from Hangzhou to Haikou after their departure ceremony for the new Chinese Super League season. The following day, they were scheduled to play a warm-up match against the U19 national football team for the U20 Asian Cup qualifier. Gu Chao, the team's first-choice goalkeeper, was naturally included in the starting lineup by manager Jordy. However, just after one save, his fortunes took a turn for the worse when a fracture of his left ring finger became a new challenge.
After the injury, Gu Chao was immediately sent to the local hospital. It wasn't until the 28th that the club confirmed that he would need to return to Hangzhou for treatment, and on the afternoon of the 29th, Gu left Haikou and returned to Hangzhou, where he is scheduled to undergo surgery at a local hospital. Given the post-operative recovery cycle, he will undoubtedly miss the first phase of the Chinese Super League from June 3 to July 12, and there is no certainty that he will be able to catch the second phase of the tournament. It's worth noting that he suffered a similar injury during Jiangsu Suning's winter training in Haikou in 2017.
With the temporary departure of Gu Chao, the Jordy boss is faced with a new challenge and needs to quickly identify the starting goalkeeper for the first phase of the new Chinese Super League season. Currently, Zhao Bo and Lai Jinfeng are his candidates. However, these two candidates have not appeared in the top domestic league before.
